10/16/2016

The Juha Sipilä administration has apparently decided to walk back a decision to gouge hundreds of millions of euros of funding from higher education programmes as part of its austerity programme.

According to the regional news consortium Lännen Media, sharp criticism of government’s plans by freshly-anointed Nobel laureate Bengt Holmström proved to be the lever that changed the administration’s plans.

The news service quoted Education and Culture Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, who said that the government intends to follow advice given by Holmström to focus on university education.

"The government is planning funding for university education and basic research, as Bengt Holmström has advised," the minister said in an interview with Lännen Media. She added that she had been working with Economic Affairs Minister Olli Rehn on the matter.

Holmström: "Contempt for higher education"

In an interview with Yle after being announced co-winner of this year’s Nobel Prize for Economics, Holmström had expressed concern over the government’s decision to cut over 250 million euros in funding from education and research. At the time, he described the move as indicative of contempt for higher education.

Holmström advised streamlining the university sector to eliminate overlap among institutions, and called for research to be concentrated in a dozen or so leading research programmes.

The government’s about-face means that instead of slashing allocations for these areas, it will now pony up additional funding for them, in part by selling off some state assets.

Babies born in Scotland will be gifted “baby boxes” from New Year’s Day 2017, the country’s First Minister has said.

Nicola Sturgeon said Nordic-style policy, which was first announced in April, would be a “symbol of a belief in a level playing field” for all children.

Finland has been giving out care packages to all expectant mothers for 80 years. The boxes, which include around 80 items useful for babies, have been credited with cutting infant mortality and raising life chances.

The boxes contain items such as baby clothes and nappies. Babies sometimes sleep in the boxes.

The First Minister said the first mothers living in pilot areas would start getting the boxes in January and that there would be a full roll-out in the summer.

“We promised a baby box of all essential items for all newborns. It’s a policy borrowed from Finland where it’s contributed to the lowest rates of child mortality in the world,” she told delegates.

Borrowed indeed. I doubt the Scots will ever return it. And I wish we Canadians had the enterprise to steal this and many other good Finnish ideas.